Afghanistan and England fight for their Champions Trophy survival: Match Preview
Group B’s two winless sides clash in a mouth-watering must-win ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 showdown. Here’s how the two teams shape up.
There are no more second chances for either of these sides.
Afghanistan dropped their first game at the tournament to South Africa, while the English failed to defend a big total against the Aussies. Given a washout between Australia and South Africa, this is effectively the knockout clash between the two sides.
It essentially sets up a fascinating contest, which will see England's batting firepower go up against Afghanistan's spin prowess.
Group B semi-finals scenarios
A look at how the two sides are stacked up:
Squads:
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran
England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
Recent form:
Afghanistan: The Afghans came into the Champions Trophy on a vehement bilateral ODI series run: with wins over Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Despite a loss to South Africa in their opening encounter, the Asian side cannot be taken lightly given the exceptional talent in their ranks.
England: Jos Buttler’s group have struggled for consistency in 50-overs cricket of late, encapsulated by their loss to Australia in their opening encounter. Heading into the Champions Trophy, England lost 3-0 in a bilateral series with India, which no doubt would’ve dented their belief. However, they carry experienced veterans of successful campaigns such as the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and the 2022 T20 World Cup, capable of turning any contest around.
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Players in focus:
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan
It doesn’t take long in an ICC tournament to remember how much teams rely on their brightest stars. So it’s no surprise that with Rashid Khan below his best against South Africa, so was Afghanistan. It’s on Rashid to swiftly find his best with the ball, which will go along way to disrupting England’s batting innings.
England: Jofra Archer
It was the quicks and seamers that made inroads with the ball for the Proteas against Afghanistan, despite the sub-continental spin-friendly conditions. And given England’s opening bowlers proved wildly expensive against Australia, both Mark Wood (7.89 per over) and Jofra Archer (8.20 per over) will be desperate to bounce back. There’s no question they’ll take confidence from what South Africa’s attack managed to produce against the Afghans.
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How to watch:
India: JioStar (Live streaming on Jio Hotstar, Television coverage on Star and Network 18 channels)
Pakistan: PTV and Ten Sports, Streaming options: Myco and Tamasha app
UAE and MENA: CricLife Max and CricLife Max2, Streaming option: STARZPLAY
UK: Live broadcasting on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action, Digital coverage via SkyGO, NOW and Sky Sports App
USA and Canada: WillowTV, Streaming on Willow by Cricbuzz app (Hindi coverage available)
Caribbean: ESPNCaribbean on TV, Streaming via ESPN Play Caribbean app
Australia: PrimeVideo (coverage available in Hindi too)
New Zealand: Sky Sport NZ, digital coverage via Now and SkyGo app.
South Africa and sub-Saharan territories: SuperSport and SuperSport App
Bangladesh: Nagorik TV and T Sports for linear broadcast, digital via Toffee app
Afghanistan: ATN
Sri Lanka: Maharaja TV (TV1 on Linear), Digital via Sirasa
The games can also be viewed on ICC.tv (In select territories)
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